Surrender to Love (6 page)

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re very perceptive?”

“Maybe a few times.”

“All right, I’ll admit it. When my grandmother called to ask me to spend the summer with her, my first reason for accepting was because it would get me far away from Concord. But I really wanted to get to know her too. Especially, since she’s been so ill. Who knows, I might not have ever gotten another opportunity.” She sighed and clasped her slender hands together.

“Your ex must’ve been a real jerk.”

“Well, I certainly think so now.” She dropped her lashes quickly, and he knew it was to hide the hurt. “Let me ask you something. Why do guys cheat?”

“I don’t know that I’m the right one to answer that question. I suppose it might be because some guys are just dicks.”

“You mean you’ve never cheated on a girl?”

“Nope. But then I haven’t been in many relationships either.” He hunched his shoulders forward and shoved his hands in his pockets. There was a sourness in the pit of his stomach as he thought back to when he was sixteen and to the day his mother died. She was there one minute and gone the next. He’d tried to save her, but the riptide had been too strong. That didn’t stop his father from blaming him, though, and wishing Easton had been the one who’d died. He lost both his parents in one day and vowed never to love another human being so much that their loss could completely destroy him. He’d turned to booze and women for comfort. If it hadn’t been for his grandfather, Easton’s demons would still be controlling him.

A cool breeze blew over them, and Tara shivered. Easton slid off the hood of the car, then reached through the open window for the sweatshirt she’d left on the seat. He climbed back up next to her and slipped it over her shoulders, letting his fingers linger a moment on her soft, smooth skin. His gaze dipped down to the top of her scoop-neck tee, where the generous curves of her breasts peeked out. A fire was growing inside him, and he ached to touch her.

Without overthinking his next move, he pulled her to him. She felt weightless in his arms, her soft curves molding to the contours of his body. “I’ve been wanting to do this,” he whispered against her hair.

When she didn’t resist his slow, thoughtful kiss, he explored her mouth with a hunger he didn’t care to admit. Her velvety warmth set him on fire, and he drank in her sweetness.

After their lips parted, she rested her head against this chest. “Remember your promise,” she said softly.

“What promise is that?”

She looked up at him with a pensive shimmer in her eyes. “Not to break my heart.”

He tried hard not to look away but was afraid she might see the guilt on his face, knowing full well he might not be able to keep his word.

During the ride home, it was quite apparent they were both trying to keep the conversation light and away from what had just happened between them at Candle Ridge. Tara could still feel the tingle of Easton’s kisses. She hadn’t planned on even letting him hold her, let alone kiss her, but when he gathered her into his arms, it would’ve been impossible to wrench herself away, the magnetism building between them was just that intense. And then when his mouth covered hers, hungrily claiming her lips, shivers of ecstasy shot through her. She most certainly hadn’t been expecting that either. It seemed she’d lost her mind. Getting involved with Easton would be a mistake. No doubt about it.

She pulled her sweatshirt closed over her shirt. Evening had set in, and with it the cool night air. She’d been gone a lot longer than she’d expected. Hopefully, her grandmother wouldn’t be angry.

Tara was glad when Easton pulled into his driveway. All she wanted was to say a quick good night and go home. But before they’d even gotten out of the car, Bennett came out of the house and was headed toward them.

Easton lowered his window, doing nothing to hide his annoyance. “What’s up?”

“Your father wants to see you. He’s in the study.” Although he spoke to Easton, his eyes were fixed on her.

“Tell him I’ll be right in,” he said coolly, then turned to Tara. “I don’t think you’ve met my cousin yet. Tara, this is Bennett. Bennett, this is Tara.”

Bennett reached across Easton to shake her hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise.” Although now that she’d seen him up close and shaken his hand, she wasn’t sure whether that was true. There was something about him that seemed off. Maybe it was just that she was picking up on the tension between cousins, but her intuition warned her to be wary of him, and in this instance, she planned on heeding it.

After Bennett went back inside the house, she said to Easton, “Thank you. I had a really nice time.”

“I did too.” He leaned in toward her, and she could feel his warm breath on her cheek.

She was glad for the semidarkness so he couldn’t see the range of emotions displayed on her face. She wanted to kiss him. Badly. But common sense won out. What happened earlier couldn’t happen again. “I should go. Good night.”

She didn’t wait for his reply. She practically leapt out of the car, ran across the lawn and up her grandmother’s walkway. She didn’t look back until she was inside the house and the door was firmly shut behind her. Only then did she peer out the window to see Easton head around the side of the house toward the backyard. She may have hurt his feelings, but better she hurt him a little now than he hurt her a lot later on.

She heard the tap of her grandmother’s cane against the hardwood floor and turned around to see her at the end of the hallway, heading toward her. “Grandmother, I’m sorry I was gone so long. I’ll get you something to eat right away.”

“Don’t worry, dear. I won’t die of starvation.” She stood beside Tara now. “Did you have a good time?”

She hoped her grandmother wouldn’t notice the flush to her cheeks when she thought of Easton’s kiss and how she felt when he’d held her. “I had a tour of the brewery.”

“You did? What did you think?”

“I’m amazed at what Grandfather and Frank have done.”

Her grandmother leaned against her cane. “Of course, they didn’t always have all that fancy equipment, but the end result has always been the same.”

“A handcrafted premium-quality beer.”

“You’re a fast learner.” Her grandmother smiled. “You couldn’t have spent all this time at the brewery, though. What else did you do?”

“We went to Candle Ridge.” Tara spit out the words quickly, then turned away before her grandmother could see her embarrassment. She hurried toward the stairs. “I’ll be down after I change. It’ll only take a minute.”

“Did you say Candle Ridge?”

“Yes.” She raced up the stairs, but not before hearing her grandmother’s laughter.

Once in her room, she slipped off her sweatshirt and tossed it on the bed. She opened the French door to let in some air and spotted Easton below on the pier, staring out at the ocean, and then, as if he sensed she watched him, he turned and looked up at her. She stood there a minute longer, then stepped back into the shadow of her room. After quickly changing into a pair of yoga pants and an oversized shirt, she looked out again before closing the door, but he was gone.

She went downstairs and found her grandmother sitting at the kitchen table. Tara made them each a sandwich, along with a bowl of the vegetable soup she’d made the other day.

Before taking a bite of her dinner, her grandmother asked, “What did you think of the view from Candle Ridge?”

“Breathtakingly beautiful. I’d like to see it at night sometime.” Tara wondered if her grandmother really cared what she thought of the view, or if she was simply fishing for info about what happened between her and Easton.

“I’ll bet you could get that handsome young man of yours to take you back there.”

Tara set her soup spoon down and stared at her. “Grandmother, he’s not my boyfriend.”

“Maybe not yet…” She smiled slyly before taking a bite of her sandwich.

“You’ve known Easton a long time.”

“Since he was a child. The family would spend every summer next door. Everything changed, though, when his mother died. He was in high school. A junior, I think. Tragic. So tragic.”

Her pulse began to beat erratically. “How’d she die?”

Her grandmother lowered her voice as if she was letting Tara in on a secret. “She drowned not too far from the pier.”

She felt as if a hand had closed around her throat. “I didn’t know.”

“Well, how could you, my dear. Easton doesn’t like to talk about it. Neither does Boyd. That’s when their relationship really fell apart. And it didn’t help that Bennett aggravated the situation. He was always jealous of Easton. You see, Bennett never knew his father, and his mother wasn’t exactly a great role model. He always looked up to Boyd, so when he took Bennett under his wing, the boy would make Easton look bad every opportunity he could.”

Tara leaned back in her chair. That explained a lot, and she thought she understood Easton much better now. She’d been right about Bennett too.

They ate the rest of their dinner in silence, and she was glad, because she was still processing everything she’d just learned.

Later, when she was up in bed, instead of falling asleep right away, she just stared at the ceiling, thinking about Easton. She couldn’t imagine what he must have gone through as a teenage boy. No wonder he’d shied away from relationships. And to think she’d been moaning to him about how Jason had cheated on her when what he’d endured was a thousand times worse.

Would he ever be able to fully open his heart to anyone?

~*~

Easton tossed and turned. He couldn’t get to sleep no matter how hard he tried. Maybe it was the blowup he’d had with his father. He hadn’t been happy to learn that Easton had taken Tara to the brewery. Though why that should’ve made him angry was a mystery. After all, he wanted Easton to spend time with her, so what difference did it make where he took her. No matter what he did, it never pleased his father, so he’d given up trying to a long, long time ago.

Another reason he might not be able to sleep was that his thoughts kept going back to when he’d held Tara up at Candle Ridge. Something intense had flared through his body, and then when he kissed her, it grew to a burning heat that made him think he might explode. He couldn’t explain why she made him feel that way. Sure, she was gorgeous, but he’d been with plenty of really hot women before, and they’d never done that to him. There was just something about her that drove him crazy…crazy with desire.

A first he’d been hurt and, he had to admit, a little annoyed that she didn’t let him kiss her good night, but he could understand her reluctance to get involved with him. She’d just been through a breakup with a guy who’d cheated on her. Of course, she’d be a little gun-shy. Actually, she’d surprised him when she accepted his advances on the hood of the car. But he knew by her behavior on the ride home that she was second-guessing what had happened between them.

Images of her standing in the doorway when he was out on the pier flickered through his mind. He recalled how the moonlight had streamed over her long golden hair and onto her shoulders. With a sigh, he closed his eyes and finally fell asleep dreaming of Tara.

~*~

Tara woke to sun streaming in over her face. Another beautiful day on Breakers Island. She stretched her arms, then rolled over to check her phone for the time. Six a.m. Perfect. She’d wanted to get up extra early today to finish cleaning the house. She took a quick shower, slipped on a pair of shorts and a cotton shirt, tied her wet hair up in a bun, and then headed downstairs. She took the back stairs to avoid bothering her grandmother, who most likely was still asleep.

After making a pot of coffee, she padded down the hall toward the front door, hoping to find a newspaper outside on the porch. When she walked by the library, her steps came to an immediate halt. She backed up and stood in the doorway, her hand covering her mouth in horror. What had happened in there? The neat piles she’d had stacked on the desk were no longer standing. Papers were strewn everywhere. Books from the bookcase had been thrown on the floor. She raced out of the room and down the hall. Everywhere she looked, things had been disrupted. In the dining room, the china cabinet doors were open, and broken pieces of knickknacks littered the table, chairs, and floor. She reached for the call box on the wall and pressed the button. “Grandmother,” she cried, fully aware of the hysteria in her voice. “Are you all right?” Sheer black fright swept through her. If this is what the first floor looked like, what must have happened upstairs?

Without waiting for an answer, she charged up to the second floor, taking two steps at a time. When she came to her grandmother’s room, her racing heart slowed a little as she saw that it was untouched. In the bed, her grandmother yawned and rubbed her eyes, then reached for her glasses on the nightstand and slipped them on. “Tara? I thought that was you standing in the doorway. What are you doing? What’s wrong? You look terrible.”

She came into the room and sat beside her on the bed, folding her hands in her lap to stop them from trembling. “Someone’s broken into the house.”